Science Fiction Award Recommendations 2010: The Reader’s List

We’re getting close to crunch time for Nebula and Hugo Award nominations: For SFWA members, the last day to get in Nebula nominations is 11:59pm (Pacific) on February 15, and while the Hugo nomination period lasts through March 26, it’s generally a good idea not to wait until the last minute to get in your nods. So if you can nominate for the Nebulas or the Hugos (or both!) now is a fine time to do it.

Last month I offered authors a chance here to note which works of theirs are eligible for awards this year; today I would like to offer science fiction and fantasy readers and fans some space to list eligible works and people who they think award nominators should keep in mind when filling out their ballots. After all, you’re the folks reading the books and watching the movies and TV shows; you should know what you think is the bast stuff of last year — and Whatever is read by a not-insignificant percentage of the people who nominate for science fiction and fantasy awards. So: Share!

Now, the rules:

1. Anyone may post in this thread — we’re all fans — but if you or your work is eligible for awards this year you may not recommend yourself or your work. There’s another thread for that (see link above). To repeat: Only recommend others and/or the work of others.

2. Only recommend works or people you know are eligible for awards this year (usually, works released or people who had work released in the 2010 calendar year). If you are not sure, please check. It’s not that difficult.

3. Please try to put all your recommendations into a single post; it makes it easier to for folks to scan through the comment thread.

4. When you recommend a work or a person, if possible (and it usually is possible), note the category in which it or they is eligible — remember, you’re trying to suggest nominations, so make it easy for people to know which category to nominate in. This is particularly the case for short fiction, which for both the Hugo and Nebula (and other awards) has three categories based on length: Short Story, Novelette and Novella. Here’s information on the Hugo Award categories; here’s information on the Nebula Award and its categories.

5. You may include links to eligible works if they are legally available online but be aware that posts with three or more links are likely to get punted into the moderation queue. If this happens, don’t panic — I’ll be along presently to free them.

6. Do not recommend me or my work, please. I’ve already let people know what work of mine is eligible; this thread is for everything else.

7. Finally, don’t post in the thread unless you’re making recommendations (i.e., no comments on other people’s recommendations, etc); I want the thread as uncluttered as possible so nominators can find good ideas.

Now, then: What science fiction and fantasy works and people do you think nominators should consider for awards this year? Tell us! Now!

75 Comments on “Science Fiction Award Recommendations 2010: The Reader’s List”

  1. A quick reminder: please read and follow the thread rules before you post. If a comment doesn’t follow the rules, I may snip it out in the interest of keeping the thread for its intended purpose — giving folks good ideas for award nominations. Thanks!

  2. http://www.writingexcuses.com

    I believe there is an “other” category for both of these awards. This is a podcast site by 3 fantasy/Sci-Fiction writers (Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor). The podcasts are all about writing, the writing, process, etc… They are extremely well done. They have had a number of other authors on as guests over the years. They are short 15 minute podcasts, but they have a large number since they started a few years ago. They get to the point right away. These podcasts are appropriate for all ages. They are so well done, English/Writing instructors from Junior High through College could assume them to their students.

    Anyone who is thinking about getting into writing as a profession or just for fun should listen to this podcasts.

  3. I believe The Quantum Thief is eligible for the Hugo — it was published in ’10, but not in the US. (US publication is happening in a couple of months, as I recall.)

    For fantasy, N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy books — The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms — both appear to be eligible for both Hugo and Nebula.

    Obviously, I recommend all of these books, or I would not have mentioned them.

    (I think I’ve asked this before, but didn’t get an answer — is there a list, somewhere, of which works are eligible? My memory being what it is, I can’t list which books I’ve read in a given year.)

  4. “Cryoburn” by Lois McMaster Bujold

    Novel. Lois just keeps getting better and better and, like the legendary Star-A-Star, she never repeats herself.
    It’s good adventure with a serious background, because, if our technology keeps improving, sooner or later we WILL have to deal with the issues this book raises.

  5. Hm, there were a lot of really good things that I read last year. Best two books released that I read was Joe Hill’s Horns and Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House. I really hope that they get nods or the awards themselves. Another fantastic book was Charles Yu’s How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe. (Best novel)

    A couple of short stories worth mentioning:

    The Magician and the Maid and Other Stories—Christie Yant (The Way of the Wizard) HORTON
    http://io9.com/#!5707424/the-magician-the-maid-and-the-magic-book

    Amaryllis—Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed Magazine) DOZOIS
    http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/amaryllis/

    (Short Fiction)

    I’d also throw my votes towards Lightspeed magazine Editor, (Semi-Prozine) and John Joseph Adams (Editor)

    Best film: Inception or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

  6. Novel:

    Felix Gilman “The Half-made world” Fantasy western. Wonderful. Not like anything else. Definitely not steampunk.

    Lois McMaster Bujold “Cryoburn”. It’s probably not her best book, but that leaves a lot of room to be good.

  7. Novel: Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay. Triple wow.

    I may change that this week when I read Cryoburn.

  8. “The Other Graces” by Alice Sola Kim, published in the July 2010 Asimov’s Science Fiction
    — Nebula Award: for Best Short Story
    — Huge Award for Best Short Story

  9. Best Novel:

    Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

    Best novella:

    Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang
    Purple & Black by KJ Parker

  10. Novel:
    The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin
    The Broken Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin
    Blackout / All Clear, Connie Willis
    Monsters of Men, Patrick Ness

    Short story:
    “Sacrifice of the First Sheason”, Peter Orullian
    “Queen of the Kitchen”, Karen Healey

    Related book:
    Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration Of Doctor Who By The Women Who Love It, ed. Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea.

  11. Hiroshi Yamamoto’s The Stories of Ibis has gotten shamefully little attention, but it’s award-worthy. It’s a fix-up akin to The Illustrated Man in structure, and its latter two novellas “The Day Shion Came” and “Ai’s Story” are excellent. None of it appeared in English before 2010, so the whole book is award-eligible as a novel, and presumably the stories are eligible separately. Anyone who enjoyed Ted Chiang’s novella this year should really take a look.

  12. Novel: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
    She is expanding the genre, and the results are excellent. She deserves to be recognized for her work.

  13. As noted above by Nightsky, Connie Willlis published one novel in 2010, split into two volumes by the publisher. So, if nominating the entire work, best to list it as Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis.

    I’ll second the best related book nod for Chicks Dig Time Lords, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea.

    For a good reference of eligible works, Locus Online has published their recommended reading list for 2010 and it is viewable online at http://locusmag.com/Magazine/2011/Issue02_RecommendedReading.html

  14. Novel: How To Live Safely In a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
    Novella: The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang

  15. For Best Semi-Pro ‘zine: Podcastle fantasy podcast.

    If those who prefer more science-y fiction, the Escape Pod podcast. If you like horror, Pseudopod.

    That’s three links, so I guess this post will live up to one of my basic credos: all things in moderation.

  16. This is kind of fun.

    While I did not read nearly as many short stories as a lot of people, it was certainly the year in which I read the most short stories in my life. Of these, my favorites that I remember in the Best Short Story category:

    * Brenda Cooper, “My Father’s Singularity” in Clarkesworld (very much)
    * Tobias S. Buckell, “A Jar of Goodwill” in Clarkesworld
    * Charlie Jane Anders, “The Fermi Paradox is Our Business Model” on Tor.com
    * Chris Fletcher, “I Will Come Home” in Crossed Genres
    * Jay Lake, “Torquing Vacuum” in Clarkesworld
    * J.M. McDermott, “The Lady or the Tiger” in Apex Magazine (also in Escape Pod)
    * Kij Johnson, with “Ponies” at Tor.com and “Names for Water” in Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2010

    I don’t really know how many novelettes I read this year, because I don’t exactly count words while I’m reading. As it turns out, I also listened to a few novelettes, disguised as novellas. Of these, my favorites for Best Novelette are:

    * Eric Gregory’s “The Earth of Yunhe”, published in the Shine anthology edited by Jetse de Vries (podcast here)
    * Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Water to Wine” (from METAtropolis: Cascadia)
    * Tobias S. Buckell’s “Byways” (in METAtropolis: Cascadia)
    * Felix Gilman’s quirky, weird, and fun “Lightbringers and Rainmakers” on Tor.com

    I read (or listened to) only about 20 novellas in 2010, of these, my favorites eligible in the Best Novella category were:

    * Paolo Bacigalupi, “The Alchemist” published at Audible.com in “The Alchemist & The Executionness”
    * Alan Smale, “A Clash of Eagles” in Panverse Two

    While I read (or, more often, listened to) a few novels in 2010, not many were from 2010. (Finally caught up a little on 2009…) There are so many more I want to read, or have read only part of, but since I haven’t read or finished them, I can’t in good faith fully recommend them, so I will not list them here. Of those I have read in full so far, my favorites eligible in the Best Novel category:

    * Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death
    * Catherynne Valente, The Habitation of the Blessed
    * Mary Robinette Kowal, Shades of Milk and Honey

    For Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) I really enjoyed The Book of Eli, and I don’t see it mentioned too often in these lists. Maybe since it was way, way back in last January?

    For Best Editor, Short Form I think there is a lot, lot of great work going on here. Cat Rambo was great at Fantasy Magazine’s helm in particular. Still, in a year full of great anthologies, Jetse de Vries (for SHINE) put together a great book.

    Lastly, for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Lev Grossman, eligible in his second and final year for his wonderful 2009 novel The Magicians. There are a lot of great writers eligible this year (Saladin Ahmed has written some great stories) but that book… that book was wonderful.

  17. Best Novel:

    Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
    Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
    WWW:Watch by Robert J. Sawyer
    Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis*

    Best Novella:

    Clementine by Cherie Priest

    * Connie Willis has said that she considers Blackout and All Clear to be one novel that was published in two volumes (both in 2010) due to its length. I’m not certain that the Hugo and Nebula admins will treat it as one work (accepting a nom for either as a nom for both) so if you only want to use one nominating slot, I recommend Blackout.

  18. Or, as Lee Whiteside, suggests, above write Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis on one line, and see how the admins handle it. :)

  19. Novel: Iain Banks, Surface Detail; China Miéville, Kraken. I don’t think Jo Walton’s Among Others is eligible for 2010, but it should be a strong contender for 2011.

  20. In the Novel category, WWW: Watch, by Robert J. Sawyer.

    Damn, looks like Fforde’s Shades of Grey was published in the last three days of 2009; it’s the best book I’ve read for years.

  21. Endorsing Theophylact’s vote for the Novel Category: Iain M. Banks’ Surface Detail.

    I think it may be the most challenging–and rewarding–SF novel I’ve read in a long, long time. Though my college days are long behind me, I would love to write an analysis for an SF Lit class of this amazing work–about 25 pages or so would do it, I think.

    In fact, I think that novel transcends the SF ghetto and qualifies as a literary masterpiece. Period.

  22. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld for best novel. I would have nominated Leviathan last year, but missed the cutoff. I wish I could nominate some kids’ books for the honor; many of them are just as well written as the adult novels, and sometimes better.

  23. Novel: Sixty One Nails by Mike Shevdon http://shevdon.com/sixty-one-nails
    A new writer on the UK SF&F scene. A brilliant read which takes one into a modern-day magical side of plain old boring London and transforms it into a world of adventure. For an experienced writer, it’s good – but this is Mike’s first published novel.

  24. I shall grab the opportunity to draw attention to some great works created in the UK and Ireland

    Hugo: Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
    Misfits is a British comedy-drama series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they attain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm.
    <bBeing Human is a British supernatural drama television series about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who are all trying to live a normal life in Bristol. Syfy have just started broadcasting a US remake. So watch the original and you can act all superior to those who’ve only seen the remake ;-)
    I’m still mulling over which specific episodes to nominate from these two British shows, but in both cases, all episodes in Season 2 are eligible for nomination. As UK shows have such short seasons you could blast through Seasons 1 and 2 in a weekend!

    Hugo: Best Novel
    The Moorehawke Trilogy, by Irish author Celine Kiernan, is a gothic YA tale of court intrigue, adventure and romance set in a fantastical medieval Europe.
    The Rebel Prince (the final book in th trilogy) is eligible for a Hugo as it was first published in 2010 by Ireland’s O’Brien Press. Books 1 and 2 in the series (The Poison Throne and The Crowded Shadows) may also be eligible. I know they have been published recently published in the US, but I haven’t been able to find the dates. The first two chapters from book 1 are available on the publishers site, as are excerpts from the other books in the series.
    The Poson Throne

  25. I have more detailed explanations on my blog here:

    http://yasff.blogspot.com/2011/01/for-your-consideration-2011-hugo.html

    but here’s the short list:

    BEST NOVEL:

    Eon by Alison Goodman
    Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
    Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

    BEST NOVELLA:

    Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

    BEST NOVELETTE:

    “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” in Zombies vs. Unicorns by Diana Peterfreund

    BEST SHORT STORY:

    “Bougainvillea” in Zombies vs. Unicorns by Carrie Ryan
    “The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue” in Full Moon City by Holly Black

    BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST:

    Keith Thompson – http://www.keiththompsonart.com/

    THE JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER (NOT A HUGO AWARD):

    Malinda Lo (2nd year of eligibility)
    Diana Peterfreund (2nd year of eligibility)

  26. Saltation, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, eligible for Novel, Hugo.

    They have other books eligible, (Mouse and Dragon, by both, and Carousel Tides, by just Sharon) but I have not been able to afford them. Published by Baen if you want to read half for free.

  27. Some random thoughts:

    Novella: Ted Chiang. The Lifecycle of Software Objects. (a fascinating story/meditation on intelligence)

    Best Related: William Pattersons “Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve” (tremendous research, many surprises … Heinlein went bar hopping in Greenwich Village with …?)

    Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form): a certain video in praise of Ray Bradbury by Rachel Bloom; pretty much Not Safe For Work.

  28. My SciFi reading for this year has been a bit constrained, but here are some TV episodes that I think are the best of each of these series for the best dramatic presentation short-form awards:

    The Walking Dead (AMC)- “Vatos”
    Fringe (FOX)- “Peter”
    Caprica (SyFy)- “There Is Another Sky”
    Stargate: Universe (SyFy)- “Pain”

  29. And just for the random hell of it, my nominations for a purely speculative “Best Dramatic Presentation, Interactive Form” (e.g. videogames) of the year, based on storyline and writing for videogames set in science fiction or fantasy worlds. (Since these games have, on average, at least an hour each of story cutscenes, I don’t know if they could be shoehorned into the long-form category…)

    Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
    God of War III (Sony)
    Halo: Reach (Bungie)
    Mass Effect 2 (Bioware)
    Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard)

    (I really do think this should be a Hugo category, although the chances of me making it to a WorldCon business meeting to propose this in the next few years fall between slim and none. Videogame writers and artists, no less than those who work in print or film, deserve recognition for their work. To paraphrase the folks at Penny Arcade, if you get a group of artists and writers together, have them spend years working on a joint project, how could the end result not be art?)

  30. Fan Writer: Joseph T. Major. I would also like to recommend his fanzine Alexiad in the Fanzine category.

    Novelette: “The Care And Feeding Of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund
    “Princess Prettypants” by Meg Cabot
    “Purity Test” by Naomi Novik
    (All three are in the anthology Zombies Vs. Unicorns.)

    Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Rachel Bloom’s 90th birthday tribute to Ray Bradbury (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM)

    Campbell: Diana Peterfreund

    Related Work: The Amazing Story Of Quantum Mechanics by James Kakalios

    Fan Artist: Paul Gadzikowski (http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com)

    I may have a few more, but I need to go back and check my notes.

  31. Many thanks for doing this, John. If people are in need of more ideas, there are several other recommendation sites available online. I have links to those I know about here.

    It is particularly important that we get lots of good nominations for Best Graphic Story this year, and the category has a sunset clause and if it continues to draw so little interest it may be scrapped next year. Tor.com has a good post about it here, and I chaired a podcast discussion on the subject here.

    My personal novel favorites: The Dervish House by Ian McDonald and Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay.

  32. Can a book that was published in the UK be considered for the Hugo? It’s coming out in the states in 2011.

    BEST NOVEL / CAMPBELL AWARD: WARM BODIES, by Isaac Marion

  33. Justin: Yes, books are eligible for the Hugos no matter where they are published. They can even be published in foreign languages. That’s why there’s no official list of what is eligible, it is too hard to find out everything that should be on it.

    Which reminds me, tomorrow night I’ll be recording a podcast with various industry and fannish folks answering questions about awards, particularly the Hugos. John DeNardo of SF Signal is on it too, and he has a post up here where people can leave questions for him to ask during the discussion. Feel free to add to it.

  34. “Plague Birds” by Jason Sanford (short story category)

    The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell (novel category)

    And that’s all I can think at the moment. Grading papers has my head all fizzly…

  35. Best Novel:
    The Dervish House, by Ian McDonald
    Zendegi, by Greg Egan–for those who haven’t read it yet, it will be an interesting read in light of recent events in Tunisia and Egypt.
    Chill, by Elizabeth Bear

    Best Novelette:
    Seven Years from Home by Naomi Novik, in the anthology Warriors. It’s a fantastic science fiction story about war, political maneuvering, and culture shock. The prose style is different from her lighter fantasy stuff and very well done.

    Best Story
    Names for Water by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2010)
    Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots, by Sandra McDonald (Strange Horizons 10/4/2010)
    Call Her Savage, by Marjorie Liu, from the anthology Masked. Superheroes in a really interesting alternate history setting. I wanted to read a novel set in this universe.

  36. Novel: Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee.

    This came out from Baen last November. It is the best contemporary fantasy to come out since War For the Oaks by Emma Bull. I don’t say that lightly — I love good contemporary fantasy, and read all that I can. But the balance of weird and wonderful vs. real world, the characters and their lives, the level of sub plotting and hints beyond this book, the slow unfurling of a petal of romance — this was a perfect storm of joy to read. I hope there’s another about the characters, but if there isn’t, like Oaks, Carousel Tides can stand as a dynamite book, Sharon Lee’s best to date, and well worth the time and vote of any fantasy reader.

  37. Novel: Dreadnought (Cherie Priest)
    Novella: The Lifecycle of Software Objects (Ted Chiang)
    Graphic Story: X’ed Out (Charles Burns)
    Best Fan Writer: Eliezer Yudkowsky ()

  38. I seem to have messed up the link for EY’s Fan-work (the surprisingly thought-provoking “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality”). I also missed the short story category, for which I’d put forward J. Channing Wells’ “Torn Apart and Devoured by Lions”, from the “Machine of Death” anthology.

  39. Ditto Cheryl (#48) about the Graphic Story category–it needs more voting and more attention this year if it’s going to survive, and I think we can all agree it’s a worthwhile category. The Tor.com post and the Salon Futura special she linked to are both great resources (disclosure: I wrote the Tor.com one).

    Otherwise, a few thoughts:

    Best Novel
    The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
    Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
    How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

    Best Pro Artist
    James Jean – He does the excellent, wildly gorgeous issue covers for the Fables comic series.

    Campbell
    Saladin Ahmed
    Dan Wells
    Amal El-Mohtar
    Christie Yant
    Shweta Narayan

    Fanzine
    SFSingal
    Salon Futura

    My Personal Graphic Story Picks, with grain of salt:
    Freakangels, v. 4 by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield
    The Unwritten v. 2 by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
    Fables v. 14 by Bill Willingham and assorted many
    Ooku v. 5 by Fuumi Yoshinaga
    And possibly also The Unwritten v. 3, though I’m still considering my fifth spot…

  40. Novel: I Am Not a Serial Killer, by Dan Wells remains the best, most affecting book I read all year. Black Blade Blues, by J.A. Pitts, is a close second.

    Novella: The Lifecycle of Software Objects, by Ted Chiang, is, as everyone has suggested, quite good. I also enjoyed The Union of Soil and Sky, by Gregory Norman Bossert (from Asimov’s).

    I put together my full picks for the Asimov’s Readers’ Awards over at my web site. Here’s the novelette and short story sections:

    Novelette
    1. “Helping Them Take the Old Man Down”, by William Preston
    2. “The Jaguar House, In Shadow”, by Aliette de Bodard
    3. “Warning Label”, by Alexander Jablokov
    4. “Slow Boat”, by Gregory Norman Bossert
    5. “Frankenstein, Frankenstein”, by Will McIntosh

    Short Story
    1. “Conditional Love,” by Felicity Shoulders
    2. “The Other Graces, by Alice Sola Kim
    3. “Sins of the Father”, by Sara Genge
    4. “Voyage to the Moon”, by Peter Friend
    5. “The Speed of Dreams”, by Will Ludwigsen
    6. “Names for Water”, by Kij Johnson

    I haven’t gone through and figured out which novelettes and short stories I’ve read outside of Asimov’s which were published this year and are worth nominating. Some time in my copious spare time, hopefully with this extremely useful thread to use as a guide!

  41. MasterThief, FWIW, L.A.con IV tried to add a games category as their special award in 2006, but ended up dropping it due to insufficient interest on the part of the Hugo nominators.

    If Salon Futura has had the required number of issues published, I believe it would go under the Semiprozine category.

    Personnally, I would like to see the TV series Medium receive a nomination, since I have been quite impressed by the writing on that show. Over the course of its production, some of the stories have had some great twists that have taken me by surprise—and I’m usually good at predicting endings. Since the show has been cancelled, 2012 these will be the last couple of years it will be eligible for nomination. (The last three episodes were aired in 2011.) For specific episode descriptions and airdates of any TV series, I recommend going to tv.com.

    Following are some of the suggestions I hope people will consider:

    Novella:

    “Orfy,” by Richard Chwedyk, F&SF Sept/Oct 2010
    “A History of Terraforming,” by Robert Reed, Asimov’s July 2010

    Novellette:

    “The Long Retreat,” by Robert Reed, F&SF Jan/Feb 2010
    “The Precedent,” by Sean McMullen, F&SF July/Aug 2010
    “Blind Cat Dance,” by Alexander Jablokov, Asimov’s March 2010
    “The Emperor of Mars,” by Allen M. Steele, Asimov’s June 2010
    “Pupa,” by David D. Levine, Analog Sept 2010
    “Eight Miles,” by Sean McMullen, Analog 2010

    Short Stories:

    “Blind Spot,” by Rick Wilbur & Nick DiChario, F&SF Sept/Oct 2010
    “The Window of Time,” by Richard Matheson, F&SF Sept/Oct 2010
    “Steadfast Castle,” by Michael Swanwick, F&SF Sept/Oct 2010
    “The Android Who Became a Human Who Became an Android,” by Brenda Cooper, Asimov’s July/Aug 2010
    “Red Letter Day,” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Analog Sept 2010
    “The View from the Top,” by Jerry Oltion, Analog Sept 2010
    “Amelia Pillar’s Etiquette for the Space Traveler,” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Asimov’s July 2010

    Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form:

    Doctor Who, the complete 5th series

    Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form:

    Medium: “An Everlasting Love” 1/8/10
    Medium: “Allison Rolen Got Married” 3/12/10
    Medium: “The Match Game” 10/1/10
    Medium: “The People in Your Neighborhood” 11/19/10
    Ghost Whisperer: “On Thin Ice” 4/2/10
    Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol”

  42. Oops! Two more for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, I forgot to add:

    Being Human (UK version>: “Episode 2.6”
    Being Human (UK version>: “Episodes 2.7 and 2.8” (two-parter)

  43. My bad. I remembered another category I wanted to make suggestions on. I’m sorry; I tried to keep this all in one posting, but this won’t allow me to go back and edit.

    Best Fan Artist:

    Maurine “MO” Starkey
    Dann Lopez
    Mike McLaughlin
    Spring Schoenhuth

    Anyone interested in looking up their work can find samples of the first three artists in The Drink Tank at efanzines.com. Spring is the jeweller who had the honor of designing the Campbell nomination pin a few years ago. Her jewelry work can also be found in art shows.

  44. Novel: Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis. An alternative history of World War II – in 1939, the German’s secret weapon is super-powered teens, and the British counter with Warlocks.

    Ian was a student of in my physics classes many years ago, and thus it was with great pride that I take full credit for his success! Ian was not first student of mine who responded to the soul-crushing tedium of my lectures by escaping into a rich world of his imagination, but he IS the first to subsequently get a book deal and turn out a page turning thriller. To the reading public – you’re welcome!

  45. I would like to recommend four books: Black Prism by Brent Weeks, The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson, The Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemison and Cryoburn, Genvieve Bujold. They are all worthy of consideration.
    Thanks

  46. I was absolutely blown away by Paul Kearney’s Corvus, and am just going back to The Ten Thousand now. So definitely Corvus for Best Novel.

    I also recommend China Mieville’s The Kraken, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Salute the Dark, and James Lovegrove’s The Age of Zeus, also for Best Novel.

    Short story’s trickier. Kay Kenyon’s “Castoff World”?

  47. I would pick Paul Kearney‘s Corvus for Best Novel.

    I’m ashamed to admit that I had the pleasure to read Paul Kearney‘s work the first time only last year. Solaris republished two omnibuses containing his 5-book series called Monarchies of God and I was blown away by it. His The Ten Thousand was another great book and Corvus turned out to be even better. I even went back and bought second hand copies of his early novels.

    Kearney is an amazingly talented writer and his Corvus deserves the title of Best Novel.

    In 2010, I also had the great pleasure to read other amazing books: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and The Noise Within by Ian Whates.

  48. For Best Novella, I would like to recommend Pink Noise: A Posthuman Tale by Leonid Korogodski, published as hardcover in 2010 by Silverberry Press. The story is about a posthuman doctor who plugs his electronic mind into a comatose girl’s brain to replace the damaged part. But he discovers more than he expected, falling into a hard predicament leading to some spectacular action, with spaceships and mindfights.

    The story is somewhat unusual in that it manages to both have much scientific jargon and also be poetic. There is an almost hypnotic rhythm to it, even where it goes technical. Another paradox is that the story is about characters without bodies (well, some of them don’t have bodies, anyway), living very far into the future, yet it manages to be emotionally involving. I don’t know if it’s the poetry that does the trick (as Cory Doctorow appears to suggest in his review), but it does help. The emotional range of the story is staggering. A note of warning: it has some VERY dark parts.

    And the ideas are rather unusual. For example, the author predicts that the first AIs will be more emotional than rational, because emotions are a necessary optimization for fast decision making in unpredictable environments that have some kind of butterfly effect. Come to think of it, the author makes a good case for the evolutionary inevitability of consciousness.

    Available Online

  49. Getting toward deadline, I’d like to suggest a few previously unmentioned candidates for the “dramatic presentation: short form” category. First of all, I’m a little surprised no one’s mentioned “Futurama” yet, since it came back fairly strongly after a shaky start last year. The three episodes I’d single out are “The Late Philip J. Fry”, “Lethal Injection” and “The Prisoner of Benda”. I’d also recommend two Oscar-nominated cartoons, Shaun Tan’s winner “The Lost Thing” and Pixar’s “Day & Night”. All are available on iTunes, most can be found some other way online or otherwise.

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